"Raise your glass, Prime Minister!" Wang Yuan stared at Totoku seriously, his eyes full of chilling smiles.

The banquet suddenly quieted down, and most of the people present knew why the Taiyuan Wang clan angered the original imperial court back then, and among them, how much did the current right prime minister take off. For the detachment, the Taiyuan Wang clan has no reason and will never return any form of goodwill.

But as if he couldn't smell the smell of gunpowder, he also smiled and raised his glass, took the initiative to clink glasses with wine, and drank it all.

Wang Yuan took a deep look at the empty quilt in his hand, was silent for a moment, and then laughed and said: "Okay, good, good prime minister of Zhongshu Province." Haha, the old man did it too. ”

After speaking, he raised his glass and drank it up. Then he held the wine glass in his hand, continued to walk forward, and after turning around and returning to his seat, he asked suspiciously: "Hey, where is Li Shicheng?" Are they so powerful that they didn't even send anyone to attend Old Lady Lu's birthday banquet? ”

After everyone heard this, they all turned their heads to look at Li Yantang in the banquet. Li Yantang got up unhurriedly and said to Wang Yuan: "Below is the current head of the Li family in Longxi, Li Yantang. ”

Wang Yuan frowned and thought for a while, and said, "Oh... You are Li Shicheng's eldest son? ”

He walked up to Li Yantang with great interest and looked carefully, "Old man remembers that at your full moon seat, I also hugged you." It's grown so big in a blink of an eye. There is a future," Li Yantang patted Li Yantang's shoulder appreciatively, "You can provoke the Li family in Longxi at a young age, Li Shicheng really gave birth to a good son." ”

Li Yantang smiled politely.

Wang Yuan said again: "But Li Shicheng's kid will be lazy, so he passed on the position so quickly, and retired to enjoy Qingfu himself." ”

After hearing this, everyone at the banquet looked strange, looked at Wang Yuan, and turned their eyes to Li Yantang again. Although the Taiyuan Wang family is in seclusion, it is impossible for them not to know about Li Shicheng's murder. Wang Yuan's question was purely to disgust the Li family in Longxi.

Li Yantang's eyes flashed with imperceptible grief, but there was still a hint of a smile on his face, and he said calmly: "My father was killed by a traitor a few days ago. Yantang took over Longxi, which was really a helpless move. ”

Wang Yuan showed regret on his face, and arched his hand and said: "I'm sorry, the old man has not asked about the world for many years, I don't know that Longxi has been in addition to this change, there is no unintentional arrow, don't be surprised by the virtuous nephew." ”

Li Yantang shook his head, "The head of the Wang family is too worried, Yantang is not an unreasonable person, knowing that the head of the Wang family is unintentional, how can he blame him." ”

Wang Yuan laughed, the grief on his face was exhausted, and he turned around and left Li Yantang alone and returned to his seat. Li Yantang's expression remained unchanged, but a hint of sharpness flashed in his eyes, and he also sat down.

"Come on, come on, you're welcome. Mrs. Lu's birthday, please wait for me to come and let the heads of the major families have a chance to connect with each other. Let's talk. ”

Wang Yuan said loudly, as if he was the master here. Although everyone was dissatisfied, they did not show it.

The main owner has not yet arrived, and no one has moved chopsticks to the table of wine and food, but a few people are chatting together.

After a while, a subordinate announced loudly: "Old lady Lu has arrived, the head of the family has arrived, the eldest master, the second master, and the third master have arrived." ”

As soon as the voice of the announcement fell, several figures walked outside the hall.

The thin figure of the head of the Lu family walked in the front, and Lu Qingshan pushed a wheelchair and slowly followed behind the head of the Lu family, and above the wheelchair was the main owner of the day, Mrs. Lu. And Lu Qingyun and Lu Qingtian also followed behind Lu Qingshan with a smile on their faces and walked in slowly.

Old Lady Lu looked bad and a little delirious. His white hair was scattered behind him, and his face was wrinkled with crane-skinned skin, and he looked haggard. After all, he is a ninety-year-old man, and it is normal to look like this.

During the banquet, everyone stood up together and looked respectfully at the position of Old Lady Lu.

"Greetings to the old lady."

Lu Qingshan pushed the old lady Lu to the main position, and sat next to the old lady with the head of the Lu family, and Lu Qingyun and Lu Qingtian sat next to Lu Qingshan and the head of the Lu family respectively.

The head of the Lu family got up and said with a smile: "Everyone who participated in the old lady's birthday banquet is to give me the face of Fan Yang Lu's family. There is good wine and food on the table, so let's start using chopsticks. ”

Old lady Lu tilted her head and looked at everyone in the banquet with her eyes blank, her trembling hands powerlessly holding vegetables. The owner does not move the chopsticks, and out of politeness, the owners of the house, who are guests, do not use the chopsticks. The head of the Lu family sat down safely, reached out to hold the chopsticks, symbolically took a bite of food, and put it in his mouth to chew.

"Let's move the chopsticks." Lu Qingshan also took a bite of food.

Lu Qingyun got up and raised his glass, "Come, I'll give you a toast." ”

Everyone raised their glasses, clinked glasses, and drank them all.

The head of the Lu family looked around at the banquet with a smile in his eyes, "The old lady is already ninety years old, she was tired when she was young, and she was also beautiful, and now that she is older, those of us who are juniors must honor his old man." ”

As he spoke, he picked up a longevity noodle and fed it carefully to Mrs. Lu.

Li Ye said: "The head of the Lu family is really a filial son, and the old lady Lu is really blessed. ”

He got up with a glass of wine and toasted to the head of the Lu family: "My Li Ye's father went early, and he has always regretted that he didn't have the opportunity to honor the old man well. Now seeing the head of the Lu family with such filial piety, I am also very emotional. ”

The head of the Lu family raised his glass and responded: "Everyone is filial piety, but the old man is more blessed, and the old father in the family is in good health, or he can live a long life, and there are more opportunities for us to be filial to the younger generation." ”

Li Ye said with emotion: "Yes, Old Lady Lu has a long life. When the old lady was young, she was indeed beautiful, even if she was in her seventies, she could do big things that shocked the world. It's so bold that I am really ashamed. ”

The head of the Lu family looked stunned and slightly embarrassed. During the banquet, everyone was also in high spirits and looked at Li Ye. I saw that Li Ye had a bright smile on his face all the time, and his eyes looked directly at the head of the Lu family, as if he was waiting to see his reaction.

Everyone present except Li Yantang is an old man, and they have all experienced the final unforgettable family gathering more than ten years ago. It was that time when the family got together, the always strong Taiyuan Wang family had to hide from the world to avoid trouble, and it also made the old lady Lu, who had always controlled the overall situation, really begin to take a back seat. Since that gathering, several major families have all acted in a low-key manner, and they no longer dare to do anything out of the ordinary on the surface.

It was not a pleasant experience for everyone present. Especially today's host, Fan Yang Lu, and the long-hidden Taiyuan Wang have always been secretive about this matter.

The head of the Lu family was silent, but Wang Yuan seemed to be unable to help it, stood up suddenly, and sneered at Li Ye: "Li Ye, what do you mean by saying this now." Today is Mrs. Lu's birthday, are you deliberately disgusting the old lady when you mention this matter? ”

Li Ye replied with a smile: "The head of the Wang Yuan family misunderstood, Li Ye definitely didn't mean this. It's just that I guess I and the head of the Wang family have different understandings of that incident more than ten years ago, the head of the Wang family thinks that thing is a shame for the old lady, but for me, I think it is the greatest thing the old lady has ever done in her life. ”

The head of the Lu family, who had been watching coldly from the sidelines, suddenly spoke: "Oh? Is it? As the son of an old lady, even I think that the gathering more than ten years ago was a very failure. You said that it was the greatest thing the old lady had ever done in her life, but the head of the family really didn't know where to start. ”

Li Ye did not flinch, and said bluntly: "Please don't blame the head of the Lu family, more than ten years ago, the family gathered, and the old lady wanted to provoke the leader of the family and establish the family alliance. It was a great idea, and I don't think anyone would deny it. ”

Shen Wansan, who was sitting opposite Li Ye, suddenly said lightly: "Who said that no one would deny it?" The old man doesn't think so, not only the old man, but also the Li family in Longxi and other slightly weaker families, I'm afraid no one will think so. The proposal of the family alliance was very inappropriate, and the old lady put a completely unfeasible plan on the table without consideration, which was also very immature. How can such an inappropriate and immature proposal be called the greatest feat of the old lady's life? ”

Shen Wansan's words can be described as merciless, not only Li Ye, but even the head of the Lu family and Wang Yuan also had ugly faces when they heard it.

Shen Wansan was unconscious, turned his head to look at Wang Yuan, and continued: "Back then, the Taiyuan Wang family was impulsive and supported the old lady's family alliance plan, but he didn't consider how the imperial court would be angry if the plan failed. ”

Wang Yuan's face was gloomy, and he listened to Shen Wansan without saying a word.

Shen Wansan said again: "Because of a willful decision by the head of the Wang family, the Taiyuan Wang family was forced to hide for more than ten years, which made the development of the family lag behind. How can such an action come from to talk about the word greatness? ”

Shen Wansan talked eloquently, and everyone didn't say a word. Even the parties Fan Yang Lu and Taiyuan Wang did not refute it, because they knew it very well in their hearts, although they were very unwilling, they had to admit that what Shen Wansan said was right.

After Shen Wansan finished speaking, he sat down, glanced at Lu Qingtian lightly, and sure enough, he saw that he was about to raise his glass and get up. Before Lu Qingtian, Totoku raised his glass to Wang Yuan and said: "Master Wang, back then, as the squire of the military department of Shangshu Province, it was I who led the troops to force the Taiyuan Wang family to retire from the world. At the beginning, I was also ordered to act, and I had to do it as a last resort, and I hope that the head of the Wang family will not blame. ”

Wang Yuan raised his glass with an unkind face and got up, and sneered: "Lord Tokhoff has now become the right prime minister of Zhongshu Province, one person is above ten thousand people, my Taiyuan Wang clan is just a lost dog that you led the troops to chase back then, where do you dare to blame the prime minister." ”

Wang Yuan's appearance is probably a deep grudge against Tokoff. Lu Qingshan looked coldly at the detachment who stood up in front of him, and the corners of his mouth set off a mocking arc. The right hand holding the wine glass with a slightly curled palm also quietly put it down, quietly listening to the conversation between Tofu and Wang Yuan.

Fan Yang City, the mansion of the head of the Lu family.

Different from the bustle and cheerfulness of the outer city of Fanyang, the atmosphere at the most important banquet in the head of the family's mansion seemed a little depressing. Since Mrs. Lu entered the table, Li Ye, the head of the Li family in Longxing, has been idle, and has been talking about the matter that Mrs. Lu proposed the family alliance plan more than ten years ago.

Regarding Mrs. Lu's plan back then, insiders also have mixed reputations. As Li Ye said, I feel that Mrs. Lu's proposal is very courageous, but the methods are not appropriate enough. But more often than not, it was said that what Old Lady Lu did back then was very improper, not only the way and method were wrong, but also unrealistic as far as the suggestion of the Family Alliance was concerned.

But the strange thing is that most of the people who think like the latter are among the Fan Yang Lu clan. Even the head of the Lu family thought so deeply.

The head of the Lu family respects his father very much, but he only has an absolute disgust towards the matter of the family alliance. Everyone thought it was strange, but no one knew why.

The head of the Lu family also quietly watched the conversation between Totok and Wang Yuan.

"It seems that the head of the Wang Yuan family is still obsessed with the things of the past!" Totoku said calmly.

Wang Yuan snorted coldly, and his gloomy eyes seemed to acquiesce to the words of detachment.

Totoku chuckled lightly and said, "Then the head of the Wang Yuan family still thinks that what happened back then was the right choice?" ”

Wang Yuan raised his head and replied, "Why don't you think so?" ”

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, "But because of that incident back then, you have lagged behind the development of the Taiyuan Wang clan for more than ten years." Even so, the head of the Wang family still stubbornly thinks that he has done nothing wrong? ”

"At that time, Mrs. Lu had the talent of Kuang Shi Jingwei, and I, Wang Yuan, volunteered to lead the Taiyuan Wang family to follow the old lady to seek an eternal future. Even if you fail, you only complain. ”

Totoku sneered: "The head of the Wang Yuan family is really stubborn. The prime minister admits that the old lady Lu back then had an amazing talent, but he used it in the wrong place. ”

Totoku stood up and walked around the table, "Say a big rebellious word, even if the family alliance proposed by Old Lady Lu back then was to fight against the rule of the imperial court, the time is definitely not ripe. The inheritance of the family is more important to the heads of the major families than anything else, and the family alliance is equivalent to allowing the reigning heads of the families to cut off the thousand-year-old inheritance passed down from their ancestors. Not to mention that more than ten years ago, even today, how many companies are willing to do this? ”

Shen Wansan showed a deeply approving expression, but Li Ye and Wang Yuan still didn't think so. Li Ye stood up and retorted, "Lord Toto's words are wrong. The purpose of the Maison Alliance is to unite the powerful Maisons and unite them so that they can better cope with any changes that may occur in the future. Even putting this aside, who said that joining the family alliance is to break the thousand-year-old inheritance of the gate valve family? The family alliance proposed by the old lady is to make the connection between the major families closer, and no one has said that the family alliance will become the leader of the alliance. The head of the family still has the vast majority of control over the family in which he belongs, but he can help each other more flexibly and flexibly when the family is in trouble in the alliance. ”

After hearing this, Totoh sneered: "Oh? Is it? The head of the Li Ye family is really big-hearted. Once the Family Alliance is established, the Alliance Leader and the family to which the Alliance Master belongs will have a certain amount of control over the other families in the Alliance. People's hearts are always greedy, and perhaps in the first few years of the alliance's establishment, it was indeed possible to be selfless and selfless, and everything was for the sake of the alliance's interests. But over time, Ben Xiang dared to conclude that no matter who held the position of the leader of this family alliance, he would inevitably lean his focus on his own family. At that time, the major families were controlled by the alliance covenant, and they had to listen to the words of the alliance leader, and over time, the major families existed in name only, and only the family alliance was left in the world. In this way, wouldn't it be to destroy the thousand-year-old inheritance of the family? ”

Wang Yuan's expression was embarrassed, and his face turned red like a ripe tomato, "You are the prime minister of the imperial court, of course you can't see the growth of our Chinese family." In this era ruled by the primitive ancients, if we Chinese can't clench our fists with each other, we won't be eaten by your court sooner or later! ”

Wang Yuan's words can be said to be a great rebellion, although he is the head of the Taiyuan Wang family and has a noble status. But in front of him is the right prime minister of the Ohara Dynasty, and saying such things in front of Tokhtar is almost a rebellion.

During the banquet, everyone's complexion changed greatly, and the head of the Lu family couldn't sit still, stood up and slapped the table violently, shouting, "Enough!" Today is the birthday of my old lady, are you waiting like this, don't you take me Fan Yang Lu in your eyes? ”

Totoku turned his head to look at the angry Lu family master, arched his hand, and walked into his seat and sat down without saying a word.

The head of the Lu family turned his head to look at Wang Yuan again, and said, "Wang Yuan, I read that you are my Fan Yang Lu family's family friend, and I invite you to come to the birthday banquet." But what you just said, but you want my Lu clan to get into trouble? I still want to repeat what happened more than ten years ago! ”

Wang Yuan also knew that he was speechless, although he was unwilling, he could only sit down.

The head of the Lu family was still angry, and continued: "The things of the past have passed, and now I am in charge, and I will never allow the things of the past to happen again, so it is pointless for us to discuss this matter now." This matter has been revealed, today is the old lady's birthday, it is time to eat and drink, don't talk about these meaningless things. ”

Shen Wansan looked at the head of the Lu family, and then looked at Lu Qingtian who was sitting on the side with a smile on his face, and had a bad premonition in his heart. Sure enough, as soon as the Lu family master's voice fell, Lu Qingtian got up and said, "Father's words are wrong. ”

The head of the Lu family turned his head sharply and glared at Lu Qingtian, gritted his teeth and said, "What did you say?" What do you want? Let me remind you, the current Fan Yang Lu clan is not your turn to speak! ”

Lu Qingtian looked directly at his father without humility or arrogance, and said, "Father is the head of the family, and of course he has absolute authority in the Lu family. But today is the old lady's 90th birthday, and on this special day, as a grandson, I can't help but want to say a fair word for the old man. ”